Chapin Walk-Behind Pro Broadcast Spreader - 100-Lb. Capacity, Model Number 82108B

As someone who works in commercial snow removal, I can confidently say this is the best spreader I have found for the price. Most of the spreaders our company uses are over $400, but I buy my own, with my own money, to get a good spreader with the features I need. The first one I purchased lasted 5 years before the gear box finally gave out and I had to purchase a new one. I typically spread between 1000 and 2000 pounds of ice melt per storm so the 100# capacity is a must. It is true that as the hopper approaches empty, you have to shake it a bit, so if you are a home user, you might look for something smaller. Adjustable side and front deflectors help prevent wasting product and throwing it in areas where it may cause harm to plants. The agitator that came with the original was a bit of a problem as it would bind up while pushing the unit forward and not actively spreading. I just took it off, you don't really need it. The only drawback I can see to this spreader is the lack of easily available repair parts. A couple of plastic gears and I could keep my original going for another 5 years, easily.

I thought I was buying a quality product because the price was higher than most other similar items but In the end I was very disappointed. The directions are unclear at best, the online video is a little better but the narrator goes way to fast. The biggest disappointment is that the auger for this machine is very small and does not grab enough product, unless your material is the perfect size it just stops spreading material. If the item didn’t have lots of parts to disassemble I would return it ASAP.

Used half of a season spreadsalt about 5 times and parts of spreader are rusting up. Not worth the money

We acquired this salt spreaders because it utilized stainless steel (sst) components. The prior steel units rusted badly.Assembly required attention to detail. Hardware was not uniquely identified to match the instructions. Assembly was pictorially represented. Careful attention to details of the pictures is required.We spread Morton Safe-T-Salt. Having used the 82108 a couple of times, we found that we had to remove the plastic mesh screen to achieve reasonable salt flow from the hopper. Once we did that, it seems to work well.

I am sure this is a good quality machine, its price shows how much the company values its product. How ever the nuts and bolts were all put together by my self and i know i tightened them , however the cold won and some of the guard deflections worked loose and the bolts were lost in the usage of spreading.I will replace them and move on ,just know to check the nuts and bolts to ensure long life out of the product.

Don’t recommend for using flit spread salt for snow. Not durable enough

Unit still didnt spread all the fertilizer and it leaves some on the bottom. It will not grind up chunks. There is a screen that screens out the larger chunks but i had to crush them by hand. Im no engineer but they should hire me to be a tester of design a unit that does what we need.

I have bought lots of spreaders for my properties. This was the best yet.Well built and everything held up except the most important part. Despite being cleaned and lubricated at the end of each season the gears are locked up and the whole thing is unusable. It should have had a grease fitting to keep the gear box lubed.I see they have an even more expensive one that does. This annoys me as I only got three seasons out of this one.